Hisar, February 24
After Hisar and Faridabad districts, Sirsa, Dabwali, Rania, Ellenabad and Kalanwali in Sirsa district have become overloaded-transformer-free towns.

A spokesman for the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) said here that under a special campaign launched to augment the capacities of all overloaded transformers in its area, the DHBVN had replaced all overloaded transformers with new ones of higher capacity or installed additional transformers in these towns. Hisar was the first town to become overloaded-transformer-free followed by Faridabad.

He said the DHBVN had augmented capacity of its about 1800 distribution transformers during the past four months under this campaign. In the first phase of the campaign, all overloaded transformers of urban areas were being replaced. In the second phse, the rural transformers would also be replaced.

The nigam had identified 5,100 transformers as overloaded the capacity of which was to be augmented under this campaign. Besides, the nigam had carried special maintenance of about 2,000 distribution transformers.

Meanwhile, the Haryana Power District Corporations have considerably reduced the power purchase cost and the quantum of power purchased from short-term sources. The corporations saved over Rs 970 crore during the current financial year up to December, 2010, as compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year.

A spokesman for the power utilities said here that the purchasing cost of power had reduced from Rs 3.23 per unit last year to Rs 2.87 per unit this fiscal year, up to December. Due to better management, the utilities had to purchase less power, saving Rs 29 crore in the process. The cost of purchase of power had come down because of judicious banking of power, less procurement from short-term sources and unscheduled interchange.

On the other hand, the distribution utilities supplied 27348.77 million units of power up to January this financial year against 27157 million units supplied during the corresponding period of last year. On an average, the utilities supplied power for 22.42 hours to domestic consumers in urban areas, 22.20 hours to industrial consumers, 12.41 hours to domestic consumers in the rural areas and 7.55 hours to agricultural tubewells daily against the schedule of 20 hours, 16 hours 12 hours and eight hours daily, respectively. 

He appealed to the state government to match the NRI contribution for community development work and invited panchayats to be an integral part of the project.

He said at the end of the month, two teachers from Weston Park School in North London would be visiting Gilly Mundy School to set up a link for the future so that they could develop a common agenda and share syllabus work.

Dr Prem Singh from Delhi University expressed concern about the falling standards of education in India and criticised the private sector for running educational institutions for profit motive. He also accused the government for washing its hands of the responsibility to provide high-class education to children in the rural areas.

Janet Alty and Jasjit Singh Mundy, trustees of Buwan Kothi International Trust that runs the school, were also present.

Gurpreet Singh Mundy, fondly called Gilly by his British friends, worked for Inquest, a charity, for the cause of those killed during custody at Lemington Spa in the UK, where his father Mota Singh settled after shifting from Fatehabad and went on to become the Mayor of that county.

When Gilly married his Italian wife Debbie in December 2005, he chose his motherland for the celebrations.

Bowled by the love and affection of local people, Gilly decided to raise funds in the UK to open a quality community school at his native place Buwan Kothi, Lehrian. But, before he could translate his dream into reality, Gilly died at the young age of 36 in 2007.

However, Mota Singh resolved to complete his son’s dream project and started the school on his first death anniversary in 2008.

Jhajjar, February 24
The Rohtak police range covering Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal districts has recently constituted a special crime prevention wing at the police station level in the districts. The wing, while working separately from the police station staff, will not only make serious efforts to curb crime after exploring the factors responsible for such incidents but also play a vital role in nabbing accused in various cases by lending a helping hand to the police station staff.

Talking to mediapersons during his surprise visit to Bahadurgarh town here recently, V Kamaraja, IGP of Rohtak range, said 251 cops, including six senior Inspectors, 25 Sub-Inspectors (SIs), 74 ASIs, 68 head constables and 84 constables had been associated with the wing in the five districts.

"The cops have been deputed in the wing after keeping in view of the geographical conditions, area and crime rate of the police station concerned. Besides, 15 educated and well-aware social activists of the area concerned have also been attached with the wing, who will intimate the wing officials about various sorts of disputes in their area so that the officials can take steps to sort out these amicably in time for maintaining social peace," said the IGP.

He maintained that the wing would not only keep record of trends of criminal activities in the area concerned but also earmark reasons for criminal activities in past so that preventive measures could be taken accordingly.

The wing officials would also keep a close tab on property dealers, transporters, wrestling courts, private financiers, cyber café, hotels, inns, beauty parlours, guesthouses, jewellers and tenants, besides gathering information about proclaimed offenders, most wanted criminals and parole jumpers of the area concerned for taking swift action.

"Apart from social organisations, women and youth welfare outfits will also be engaged with the wing to get latest information about various activities in the area concerned. Officials of the wing will devote maximum time in the field instead of sitting in police stations and submit their report daily to the wing observers who will have to compile a weekly report for the SP concerned," said Kamaraja, adding that the SPs of all five districts then would forward the progress report of the wing fortnightly to him. The IGP said accountability of the wing had also been fixed so that official action could be taken in case any official was found guilty of dereliction of duty. 

Chandigarh, February 24
Haryana has become the first state in the country to release the request for proposal (RFP) for the selection of system integrator for implementing, commissioning and maintaining the high profile project of crime and criminal tracking network and systems (CCTNS). The project aims at modernising the police force all across the country.

Haryana has already floated the RFP which is available on the website of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The last date for submission of bids has been fixed as March 21, 2011.

Haryana has already floated the request for proposal which is available on the website of the National Crime Records Bureau

The CCTNS project is a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing effective policing and efficiency at all levels, especially at police stations through the adoption of e-governance and creation of nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of the state-of-the-art IT tracking system.

The project includes hardware, communication infrastructure and data centre, CCTNS application, digitisation of historical records, capacity building and handholding. CCTNS would focus on modules like registration, investigation, and prosecution solutions; crime prevention solutions, reporting solutions; collaboration solutions; emergency response management solutions; citizen and external interfacing solutions and traffic solutions.

Over Rs. 6.22 crore have been received from the Ministry of Home Affairs for hiring of state project management consultant, capacity building for strengthening of institutions' infrastructure, capacity building, personnel training and selection of system integrator and state project management unit.

Sirsa, February 24
One of the two powered hang gliders set on expedition by the IAF recently landed at the Air Force Station, Sirsa, where the crew stayed for a night.

The glider with its pilots, Sqn Ldr Rama Kant and Corp Ram Mehar, landed here in the evening and flew for its next destination the next day. The crewmembers provided joyride to children, mostly from the families of IAF officers.

"I will become an Air Force officer after completing my studies and fly fighter aircraft," said Ananya, a class X student, after her first ride of the glider.

Ananya, Kirti, Parvesh, Nandani and Raghav, all children of IAF personnel enjoyed the ride while many more witnessed the aircraft flying over the town at a very low height.

Group Capt Anil Sabharwal, Station Commander, Sirsa, who received the powered hang glider, said to make good all cardinal directions within the country, two teams comprising a powered hand glider and a micro-light aircraft flown by IAF personnel had embarked on a 15-day adventure odyssey, "X-India 2011", from airbases of Suratgarh and Udhampur.

The micro-light expedition from north will reach Thiruvananthapuram on February 21. The eastbound powered hang glider from west will be flagged-in at Barrackpore, near Kolkata, he said.

Both teams will converge at Hindan airbase before resuming their onward journey. The micro-light team is led by Wg Cdr A Chauhan and the hang glider team is led by Sqn Ldr Ramakant.

The micro-light expedition will land at airbases of Bathinda, Nal, Jodhpur, Gandhinagar, Pune, Belgaum, Yelahanka and Sulur, while the hang glider will route through Sirsa, Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gaya and Panagarh.

The teams will offer rides to enthusiasts and civilians during their halts to spread and inculcate the spirit of adventure and create awareness about the IAF among the youth, said Group Capt Sabharwal.

Sqn Ldr Rama Kant said the power hang glider used a piston engine and had a speed of 80 km per hour. The glider normally flew at a height of 1,000 ft or slightly more, although it could fly up to a height of 11,000 ft.

The powered hang glider has a weight of 375 kg and has an endurance limit of 5 hours. The glider can land at or take off from fields or even roads and has two seats like the ones given on a two-wheeled vehicle.

Rohtak, February 24
Seeking information under the RTI Act seems not to be an easy task in view of the means adopted by the authorities concerned to allegedly thwart or delay the process. This is perhaps the conclusion reached by an activist here who lodged an application under the Act to seek information from the Horticulture Department of the state government recently.

The department asked the applicant to submit an additional fee of Rs 27,690 for the release of the information sought by him.

The applicant, Subhash, who also represents the Haryana Soochna Adhikar Manch, said here recently that he was shocked when he received a letter from the department concerned mentioning that an additional fee was required to be deposited to release the information against the application.

He said the application seeking information on about 20 points regarding the horticulture work taken up under the National Horticulture Mission was submitted on December 6.

He said while the application was sent to the head office of the Directorate of Horticulture of the state government, the information officer of the directorate gave a reply after 35 days, which was more than the designated period of the submission of the information under the Act, that the applicant was required to pay Rs 27,690 for the sought information.

The information sought by the applicant included physical and financial report of the work done under the National Horticulture Mission in the state during the period between April 1, 2006, and March 31, 2010. Besides, the applicant had demanded the information about the total number of organic manure units set up in the state and how many of them were functional. The department was also asked about the status of the ponds constructed by it in the given period.

According to Subhash, the department had acted in an irresponsible manner which was against the provisions of the Sub-Section 4 of the same Section of the RTI Act under which the authorities ought to inform the applicant within seven days of the receipt of the application if any additional fee was required.

He said officials of the department informed him through a letter, dated January 31, that he was liable to pay an additional amount as the information given would require about 13,845 pages.

He claimed that while this reply was given after the due period of the process itself, he was left with no other option than to lodge an appeal before the First Appellate Authority, thus becoming a victim of the delayed process by the department. He, however, claimed that an appeal had already been lodged against the office concerned for the supply of the relevant information free of cost, but there was no positive response so far.

Sirsa, February 24
Chaudhary Devi Lal University here has established a Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes and Minority Coaching Cell to enhance the capacity and creativity of budding students of various departments.

Dr KC Bhardwaj, vice-chancellor, said Rs 1.20 crore had been earmarked for this programme. The VC inaugurated the coaching cell in the seminar hall of the science block recently.

He called upon students and faculty members to work with dedication for the success of this scheme.

Dr Bhardwaj said the scheme had been sponsored by the UGC and aimed at providing free coaching to students belonging to these categories. He said free coaching would be provided to these students on weekends and eminent scholars would be invited from the different parts of country to deliver specialised lectures.

He said the scheme would be helpful in developing reasoning, decision-making as well as soft skills for the overall development of students. A university spokesperson said over 500 students belonging to these categories had applied under this scheme. Dr Raj Kumar Siwach, coordinator of the cell, informed that regular classes would commence from February 26, 2011.

Dr Manoj Siwach, registrar, and several teachers of the university were present on the occasion.

Kurukshetra, February 24
Law like discipline inspires everybody to follow the right path. This was stated by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, chief justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, while addressing the annual function of the “Students’ Legal Literacy Mission” organised jointly by the Haryana State Legal Services Authority and the Education Department, Haryana, at the Kurukshetra University Auditorium here recently.

It is the need of the hour to understand and act according to the Indian legal system which gives everybody various rights, including the Right to Equality, the Right to Education and the Right to Information, added Justice Gogoi who was also the chief guest on the occasion.

The aim of the legal literacy mission was to create legal awareness among the people as most of them were poor and not fully aware of their rights, he said.

In his presidential address, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Executive Chairman, Haryana State Legal Services Authority, said: “Law teaches us to abstain from greed and selfishness. When everyone becomes aware of his duty, then nobody will be deprived of his/her rights”. He said today’s children were the administrators, the leaders and the judges of tomorrow. Therefore, it was necessary for them to be aware of the law of the land and the rights granted to the citizens.

Justice Jasbir Singh said social evils and crimes prevailing in society could only be eradicated if the new generation took a pledge to uproot them. Lt-Gen DDS Sandhu, vice-chancellor, Kurukshetra University, said the literature distributed by the Haryana State Legal Services Authority would render enough legal knowledge to the students.

Ambala, February 24
The government has launched a special campaign to identify bogus consumers registered with various cooking gas agencies across the state.

Haryana Minister for Food and Civil Supply Harmohinder Singh Chattha said he had got reports that certain gas agencies had enrolled bogus LPG consumers. Cylinders were being issued to bogus consumers and these were being freely sold in the black market.

He said he had issued directions to senior functionaries of his department to instruct the field staff to identify such bogus consumers and gas agencies.The field staff had already started work in this direction.

Reiterating his resolve to end blackmarketeering in LPG cylinders, Chattha said a special campaign had been launched to identify commercial establishments using domestic LPG cylinders. Their special focus was on dhabas, eatries, roadside stalls, restaurant and hotels.

Chattha, who also hold the portfolio of Cooperation, said cooperative banks had been caught in a bind because of the loan waiver announced by the government. He said alternative measures were being contemplated to restore the financial health of the cooperative banks.

Chattha was here to preside over the annual prize distribution function of Surya Senior Secondary School, Ambala.The government, he said, had initiated a series of measures to make good education available to children from the lower and underprivileged section of society.

The minister said Haryana was set to witness rapid development in the field of infrastructure development like bridges and roads.

Chandigarh, February 24
Various initiatives taken by the state government to conserve energy have started yielding positive results as about 165 MW of energy was saved during 2009-10.

Power and Renewable Energy Minister Mahender Partap Singh said Haryana was the first state in the country to amend the Haryana schedule of rate (HSR) to incorporate the energy-efficient building materials to implement the energy conservation building code.

About the major initiatives taken by the state to save energy, he said a 16-MW Bagasse cogeneration project had been set up at the Haryana Cooperative Sugarmill, Rohtak, at a cost of Rs 177.90 crore and another such project of 24 MW at Shahbad Cooperative Sugarmill at a cost of Rs 100.40 crore.

A 3-MW biogas cogeneration project was commissioned at Sainsons Paper Industries, Bakhli village, Kurukshetra, at a cost of over Rs 16.21 crore.

In addition to it, a 2-MW captive biomass cogeneration project had also been commissioned at Bharat Starch Industries, Yamunanagar, at a cost of over Rs 15.23 crore.

A small 6-MW hydro project had been commissioned at Dadupur in Yamunanagar and another of 2-MW at Gogripur in Karnal district.

The Haryana Renewable Development Agency had issued pre-registration certificates to 22 developers for setting up of solar power projects of 20 MW capacity out of which nine projects of 8.8 MW had been approved by the Central Government with a total project cost of Rs 150 crore.

An innovative project to electrify un-electrified hamlets of Morni block in Panchkula district had been completed. Under the project, all 286 hamlets had been electrified with solar photovoltaic (SPV) technology in three phases at a total cost of over Rs 4.53 crore.

Mahender Partap Singh said Haryana was the first state to have implemented energy-efficient streetlighting on its own in Municipal Committee, Hisar, and HUDA sectors, Panchkula, which had resulted in an annual peak load reduction of 870 KW in HUDA, Panchkula, and the MC, Hisar.

Gurgaon, February 24
Admitting that surviving in the Hindi film industry without a godfather was a tough job, movie actor, writer, producer and television host R Madhavan has disclosed his godfather.

"The media has always been my godfather in the film industry and I am - and will always be - grateful to the media for my success and positive image," said the suave and docile actor with the "wow" factor in an interaction with newspersons here.

Madhavan, who was in Gurgaon to promote his upcoming movie "Tanu Weds Manu" along with his co-star, Kangana Ranaut, and film director, Aanand Rai, appealed to Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni to finish off their match against England scheduled for the coming Sunday "as early as possible" so that the people could go to watch the film releasing tomorrow.

In response to a question, Madhavan said till now, his role in the movie "3 Idiots" was closest to his heart as it resembled his real character.

Hot Bollywood actress, Kangana Ranaut, however, maintained that her role in the coming flick "Tanu and Manu" was the best one she had ever got. On being asked about the USP of "Tanu and Manu", director Aanand Rai said the film was an honest romantic comedy, which featured typical north Indian cities like Delhi and Kanpur and showcased a pair of opposites in the lead role.

Earlier, Madhavan, Kangana and Aanand attended the launch of the Gurgaon centre of the Fashionista Fashion Institute along with noted designer Abdul Haider and Fashionista MD Neetu Pavan Manikatalia. A fashion preview inspired by the movie, "Tanu Weds Manu", was also organised by institute students and fashion models to mark the occasion.

Ambala, February 24
The “Wisdom House” of the Sohan Lal DAV College of Education, Ambala City, recently organised an awareness programme on AIDS. Dr Dev Raj Gupta, member, DAV College Managing Committee, and president, Arya Samaj, Ambala city, was the guest on the occasion.

Dr Vivek Kohli, principal of the college, introduced and welcomed the guest. He addressed students by saying, “We are living in the 21st century which is wholly influenced by the impact of Western culture and freedom. It is only through awareness programmes that we can prevent ourselves from incurable diseases like AIDS”.

The programme was started with a prayer. The theme of the programme was carried over by a power point presentation and a short play.

The presentation on HIV/AIDS was prepared under the guidance of the coordinators of Wisdom House, Dr Sushma Gupta and Prof Ruchi Manchanda. The presentation focused on four stages of the development of HIV virus, resulting in the weakening of the immune system. Various ways of preventing AIDS like abstinence, monogamous relationships and use of safe syringes were also discussed in the presentation.

A short play written and directed by Dr Gupta and Prof Manchanda depicting the story of an HIV-infected girl was also enacted.

Dr Kohli, Dr Gupta, Dr Narender Kaushik, Prof Satnam Kaur, Prof Pawan Kumar, Dr BS Wadhwa and Prof Manchanda presented a memento to Dr Dev Raj Gupta.

Karnal, February 24
The registration of dowry death case under Section 304-B of the IPC against the husband and his first wife in the suicide case of a married woman (second wife of the accused) in Bansa village took a new turn recently with father of the first wife challenging the validity of the second marriage.

Gurbachan Singh, father of Harleen Kaur, first wife of Gurvinder Singh, a resident of Bansa village, said his daughter, who was married on January 22, 2001, was never divorced and asked that how could Gurvinder marry again without getting divorce from the first wife?.

Gurvinder’s second marriage with the deceased Lakhvinder Kaur was invalid in the eyes of the law and in such a situation, how could a dowry death case be registered against my daughter?, said Gurbachan questioning the action of the police.

He said the police had booked his daughter, along with her husband, Gurvinder Singh, who had been arrested under Section 304-B for torturing Lakhvinder for dowry and abetment to suicide.

The police is searching for his daughter Harleen who is innocent and could not be booked under Section 304-B as Lahkvinder could not be his legally married wife.

“My daughter herself was being victimised and tortured for dowry by her in-laws for the past 10 years and a case under Sections 323, 324, 498-A, 406, 325, 506 and 34 of the IPC was registered against her husband and in-laws in the Traveri police station on October 30, 2006, on her complaint. Later, the case was withdrawn on the intervention of the panchayat on the promise that she would not be victimised again,” he said.

“Moreover, when the girl shot herself with a licenced revolver of Gurvinder, my daughter was at Sahib Singh Dera outside the village for “Akhand Path”,” said Gurbachan Singh after meeting Surinder Boria, DSP, Headquarters, and apprising him of the reality.

He also submitted a memorandum pleading that his daughter was innocent and herself was a victim of dowry and sought the withdrawal of case against her.

Lakhvinder, who allegedly committed suicide by shooting herself, was married to Gurvinder of Bansa village four months ago, though Gurvinder was already married and had a daughter.